The iconic Thekla could not contain the immense swarm of Bristol based Vance Joy enthusiasts. So the powers that be opted for the much larger Anson rooms for the Bristol leg of the UK tour: a venue reminiscent of the school sports hall that likely housed tedious battle of the band competitions in your care free youth. Fortunately, the Anson Room’s sports hall was today host to some considerably more refined talent.
The aforementioned talent was of course the devilishly handsome Vance Joy who, despite his debut album having hit the shops just days prior, was responsible for penning ‘Riptide’; a song that will surely go on to become a modern day classic.
It became clear early on that Vance’s challenge this evening would be to communicate the vast array of mood and style nested in his full collection of songs – a challenge only heightened by the hype and anticipation a neo-iconic song like ‘Riptide’ so frequently brings about.
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But the strength of songs like ‘Mess is Mine’ and ‘From Afar’ ensured a rich and entertaining set that even included a cheeky rendition of Bruce Springsteen ‘Dancing in the Dark’. As you might expect, the cover went down a storm.
Although traditionally hailing from the new breed of the ‘one man and his guitar’ acts, Vance was accompanied throughout by his “band of mates” (Vance’s description, not mine). The band allowed him to excite the ears of even the stragglers lurking towards the back of the Anson Rooms that night – a canny move when you consider the venues Vance Joy will go on to grace in the future.
As Vance strummed the familiar opening ukulele chord of ‘Riptide’ at the close of his set, we even got a demonstration of the curious new phenomenon that’s sweeping gigs all around the world. No sooner had that tiny guitar been plucked than had vast swathes of crowd members begun recording the performance through their smartphone cameras – effectively watching the gig from a screen smaller than their living room’s TV.
Whilst not a phenomenon we’re necessarily on board with, it’s quite clear that Vance Joy fans reading this likely are. We’ll therefore refrain from treating the act with the disdain it may otherwise have brought about and instead sum the gig up in a delectable closing sentence:
Great gig; too many smartphones.
Image: Young The Giant